Highlights

Every year the sounds of fireworks popping and crackling perforate the air in Catalonia in the days leading up to Sant Joan's Eve (Nit de Sant Joan). The yearly festival culminates in a massive party on the night of 23 June, when locals celebrate the holiday by setting off mass amounts of fireworks and igniting bonfires, known in Catalan as 'fogueres'. At midnight, there is a spectacular fireworks display, marking the climax of the celebration. The bonfires of Sant Joan have special meaning for Catalan-speaking regions, and the festival is considered a Catalan national holiday. The tradition as it exists today traces its roots back to pagan rituals and coincides with the summer solstice, marking the beginning of the summer.

A brief swearing-in ceremony was held on Monday in the Generalitat Palace (the seat of the Catalan Government) when – after the Cabinet reshuffle – four new Catalan Ministers officially took office. During the event, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, stated that the new Executive is "100% cohesive" in defending the full independence of Catalonia. This statement comes after the "painful" but "inevitable" separation between his party, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) and its historical ally, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC); a long-awaited split mostly due to disagreement over Catalonia's independence debate. During the ceremony, Mas also thanked the three outgoing Ministers.

Catalonia received a total of 1,628,268 foreign tourists in May 2015, an increase of 7.2% compared to May 2014 and the best figure for this month since 2000. According to the survey of Tourist Movements at Borders (Frontur) prepared by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, in the first five months of 2015 the number of foreign tourists increased by 5.2% in Catalonia, with more than 5.7 million visitors from abroad. In Spain as a whole, the number of tourists visiting between January and May rose by 5.1% to a new record of 22.5 million visitors over the first five months of the year.

On Tuesday, Laurent Le Bon, Chairman of the Picasso Museum in Paris, visited Horta de Sant Joan (also known as 'Horta' or 'Orta'). This village – located in the Province of Tarragona (south Catalonia) – has a profound connection with the art of Picasso, as the Malaga-born artist lived and painted there during two periods of his life. During the visit – part of a tour of the most important Spanish spots for the painter – Le Bon expressed his full support for the creation of a new Picasso museum in this Catalan village, an initiative promoted by the Picasso Centre of Horta de Sant Joan. "In this place it is still possible to feel the spirit of Picasso", he said. "The artist did not travel much, but here we can see how he revolutionised the way the world is represented through art", he added. Commenting on the idea of opening a new museum in Horta, Le Bon said "it's a project that I believe in. I give it all my support and we will work together."

The Catalan Government approved decrees on Tuesday for the creation of three new delegations abroad, in the Holy See, Portugal and Morocco. TheMinister of the Presidency, Francesc Homs, said the purpose of opening these delegations is to facilitate bilateral relations and defend the social and economic interests of Catalonia abroad. With these new delegations, which are included in the Foreign Action Strategic Plan 2015-2018, the Government of Catalonia will have an international network of 10 offices abroad.

Tensions over the issue of independence between the two parties forming the CiU coalition have caused a government crisis in Catalonia. Three ministers from the Christian-Democrat party UDC, the smaller party within the CiU, have left government after their allies of 37 years, CDC, presented them with an “ultimatum”. The governing council of UDC decided on Wednesday, with 16 votes in favour, 10 against and 2 abstentions, that Vice-president Joana Ortega, Minister of Agriculture Josep Maria Pelegrí and Minister of Home Affairs Ramon Espadaler, who is also the secretary general of UDC, should quit Artur Mas’ government. UDC voted on Sunday by a slim majority in favour of an ambiguous stance on the issue of independence, in which the party supported the right to self-determination but fell short of stating whether or not Catalonia should actually vote ‘yes’ to full independence from Spain. Following the result, the Liberal party CDC, led by Mas, urged their coalition partners to state clearly whether or not they are for independence. Elections to the Catalan Parliament are expected to be held on the 27 of September, and may be considered a plebiscite on independence. Tensions between CDC and UDC over the reluctance of the latter to clearly support independence make it unlikely that they will run together, although UDC has said it will still provide parliamentary support to CDC in the coming months and won’t split the coalition at local level.

Between 1993 and 2014, a growing trend of foreign investment was registered in Catalonia, a study by Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce shows. This upward trend continued unbroken in the long-term, not even being interrupted by the decline of -15.8% recorded in 2014. According to the study, it is not possible to conclude that – over the period analysed – investment in Catalonia "has been adversely affected by the political context", in particular the Catalan self-determination process. In addition, for 2015 – even after just the first few months of the year have passed – the business environment seems to suggest that investment in productive capacity will be higher than in 2014.